free

once i passed through the prism of me and got torn into different streams each cascade a prisoner in me of thoughts, doubts, emotions and dreams beyond the surface i opened up looked at the life in each layer a reminder of my now a reminder of why i am here the moments lived and […]

aabaad

os pighle, baal bheege, jism tharrae teri tadap me dil aur jaan dono tarsae dekh kahaani ka ye kaisa mod hai tu nahi hai par hai, dil se ye hodd hai tere liye jee ghabrae aa laut ke vaapas aaye ussi gali, ussi sheher, jaha tujhe dekha tha vo aankhein, vo hasi, vo bachche sa […]

maaya

jab lage doobne ko hai uski aankhon me, tab uski aankhon ne paar kar diya chaai jab khamoshi aur hone lage beghar uski sargoshi ne amaan kar diya hona hi tha muntjir to hume, yuhi kaatni thi zindagi uss bewafa ne aisa humara intezaam kar diya chalne lage jo hum madhushaala se, pyaase aur akele […]

accumulation/culmination

when he could not get to her he turned around and left but before he departed, he stated what needed to be said: “waited a long time for the flowers to bloom tried to stay dry in this heavy monsoon awaited water from this desert hid tears in this rain longed for your breast on […]

face off

pieces to the puzzle. the white canvas splattered with grotesque colors mixed, unique and alone. listening to empty words & emptier songs promises? more like sausages stuffed and dying on fat and oil & living off fake acknowledgments no offence but i got no defence and i might just throw you over the fence for […]

jaade ki thand

dekh to phir fuul khilne lage hai tu aur mai phir milne lage hai phir shikvoń aur giloń ki raat so rahi hai jaade ki thand khatam ho rahi hai kis muh se keh de tumhe ki tumse mohabbat nahi karte apne hi jahaan-e-ilm se nafrat ho rahi hai dekh to ki ab bhi tere […]

jwala

jo haala na jhalke to kya khaak peene vala aur jo sabke saath ho le to kya khaak vo matvala apna rasta khud bana tu; chalta ja rah paa jaega tapta jaa bas, rukna mat, ban jaega tu jwala. jhuka jo sar, gaya jo ghar, kabhi nahi uth paega vahi paata hai manzil apni jo […]

hubli 30th december 16:08

un/intentionally harrowing & bewildering the charades of the charlatans the escape of the convicts the ink of the writers the voice of the voiceless the hunger of the urchins the straits that lead home what is the homecoming that is often evoked: in words, in dreams and in hope. it is the last breath that […]

in the middle

we entered in the middle when the lives we lived had been there for a while when maybe what was the void in me was your smile and your void was the same though you didn’t know you were too scared to show and now shall i make my escape for i fear i have […]

the sky

labyrinth. an elaborate, unplanned maze that is life. with each passing sunset, with each passing night. ask yourself: where is the light? did it go down with the dusk on that playground you played when you were young did it pass out with your friends when we partied till dawn? did it fall with the […]

vo

khabar be-khabar thi zinda laasho ke vyaapar ki ankahi, ansuni, bikhari hui, lachaar si tanhai ke aalam me ghut-ti khushi andhere se lipti, bujhti roshni aakhir hua kya? sawaal reh gaye bas; zanjeero se bandhe kuch uske, kuch apne. sapne. sapne jo banaye the, uske bachchon ke saath khelne ke jaise usne hume bada kiya, […]

final verdict

there is a maddening trance out in the air everyone is high and free dancing the nights away worries forgotten & promises betrayed out by the windy sea boarded on the ship that travels on, smoking strong and takes you nowhere and there is wisp of smoke on the hilly terrain its been years since […]

the train

each plank is a year visible at the break of dawn a curved turn and it disappears the path goes on. stones; laid out all over sharp enough to break skulls stones; creating foundation & segregation stones; that will lead home two endless parallel rails the necessary medium for the train the arrival creates reverbation […]

the song

i lost the song i used to get lost in i forget the words & what they stood for the roads that were reminiscent with the song are lost too maybe, just maybe, i took far too long and now i am a prisoner of my ways and i have to go on, though i […]

gambler’s reward

gambling, on its face value, seems excessive, unnecessary & unnatural. why would someone spend all their life’s fortunes & riches on a roll of a dice (no pun intended). but on a deeper understanding of the subject, it is anything but unnatural. it consists of logic; there is a mathematical system (that has voluminous books […]

the drifter

on a long desert road with no living soul a distant voice is heard of a machine that roars two wheels & black in color unafraid & unrestrained a hopeless lover; that refuses to give up. drifting along the scorching sun brighter than the sunshine darker than the night the drifter has no name & […]

what are we?

what are we? guns in the hands of children instead of pens tears in the eyes of the women instead of dreams hunger pangs in the stomach of youth instead of excitement drugs in the veins of the boys instead of adrenaline graveyards & cremation grounds instead of jungles borders instead of bridges silence instead […]

the times

crumbled on that piece of paper flying away in the wind was a to-do list of dreams once during a sleepless night he had thoughts, ideas and plans to achieve means now as he sits having sold his dreams for alcohol, racetracks, resorts and riches beyond hope he sees the material life, luxury are nothing […]

drug.

words are pouring out through the sieve of silence peace is crawling out from underneath the body count of violence no sound is loud enough to wake up the dreamers from the dreamless sleep the houses are full, contrasted by the empty streets blood, sweat, tears: give without expectations and realise the meaning of life […]

it has been a minute

it has been a minute since the last few people that understood were in the room since the laughters that filled echoed off the walls in my afternoons since the moments of enlightenment tore away the gloom since i was in between maybe & soon. it has been a minute since the team of dozen […]

we; this generation

we are the generation that was promised that will hold our neighbours hands and break bread empower women and redefine the archaic & inane definitions/restrictions of identity & categorisation eschew preaching of tradition & culture that exploits our heartstrings at the price of our rationality & thought burn the books that have discriminated & pitted […]

mujh se hi

mujh me na bachcha mujhsa hi na laut paa raha mujh me hi khaamoshiyon ka sama chalta raha jalta raha khud me hi sulagti ja rahi intezaar ki aag dhua dhua hua mujh sa hi na dilasa, na panah, na jannat, na jahan tanha me bhi, tujh sa hi muqamal na ho jo vo khwahish […]

monsoon

i travelled beyond time saw the day rome crumbled saw the flying cars and men reading thoughts the dinosaurs, the skyscrapers, the plastic, the jungle. i travelled both beyond and through time each memory revisited, each desire resigned i forget the faces but not how they made me feel i left them all behind, giving […]

the chase

raised fists believing in change the dawn of a new world order beaten up and chained bars till older the obliterating catastrophe is the journey to find peace the final conquering is the quest to tame the mind those dancing to a song others can’t hear are insane when thought of like this, lovers and […]

reminder

what i say is new because it is my unique story start writing your own story.

underneath/ over it

a few days have made me older i don’t recognise this place and the nights keep getting colder i do not remember your face stories of how it used to be are told while we lie cold on the grass bleeding they take time to process how it goes the pretenders just watch seething lets […]

h.

raakh ka ubaal hun me vish bimisaal hun me peeth par prahaar hun sher ki dahaad hun shaitaan ki me chaal hun me zindagi ka saar hun. jo ant se bhi dar gaya vo jeete jee hi mar gaya suraj uska dhal gaya chitta sa vo jal gaya vo haarke hi ghar gaya mera ant […]

roads

days (years), events, tears, have buried you silence & finding meaning your home and i will not come to give you a shoulder for we are all on the same ship, soldier. you do not need me anymore just wanting to be heard but not finding the words lost at parties, bored at book clubs […]

no god/all good

once in my mind and on the road, i came across a person (a man!), the story told. he told me to believe and renounce disbelief and take every word he said as truth. first he told how he is actually thirty three described in four books written by deities. it does teach to discriminate […]

imbroglio

expected of the night to play these tricks with me i try to not react and let it be but the night lets everything fall and before i know it the evil stands tall the reality that i can’t save all starts taking a toll and i, i try to fight with all my might […]

love happened

when we lie shattered in and within ourselves and the silence speaks more words than words ever can can i keep hugging you till sleep takes over? can i turn you into a bead string that i can keep counting? a meditation; a devotion. a childhood’s memory that i am living now. this soft addiction […]

maybe

we are on this swindling terrain created on a perceived facade dancing in defiance of the dark counting those long lost stars trying to understand, waiting to be loved dying away our lives silent to the words melting each day on the candle wax, bright and alone at night rising and falling like waves, broken […]

couplets

mile na mile kya farq hai; anjaan tab the, ajaan ab hai. ranjh-o-gam ki deevare uchchi kar do; javani ki ruhaniyat har manzar mar rahi hai. puchcha jab usne ashiyan kaisa hota hai; le kar usse aine ke saamne dhar diya. maza to talabh ka hai, pyaar to tab hai jab haasil me bhi maza […]

pretend

will i stop pretending that the rush is gone? close the door, turn off the lights and go on. we are doomed by our being; we are wrecked by nature. not understood, non defined, persona non grata. the skill is to feign. the art is the refusal to feel. together we journey on the long […]

soliloquy

sometimes we are entering at the end gnomes in a world of giants; courageous, hard working but gnomes nevertheless bleeding, hungry, eaten away, diseased. myths that do not make the headlines for the myths are of defeat. even the failures make it; as the what not to do columns. how knowing something can make u […]

paakiza

ilaaj asaan tha haal puchna tha dil to nadaan tha izhaar sochna tha mehfilen toh aati jaati rahengi dil-e-nakar anjaam sochna tha paani ki chah hi sirf pyaar nahi tha mera pyaar ka guldaston nahi, baag banana tha kitni mohbbat ho gayi thi tumse chila chila kar duniya ko jatana tha sirf paana maqsad nahi […]

chronicles

sand drifting away with each wave in the storm passers by pretending they will stay long elicited feigned emotions, crowded detached commotions triggered past on broken glass of melting candle wax lives past, angels draped in the blood clad subterfuge yet we refuse to acknowledge the imbroglio never introspect our own shortcoming to follow through […]

Awaaz do

Dhima ho chala hai waqt ka bahav Isse ab jazbaat aansuon se kehne do Rok lo bikharte rishte ko Iss anjuman ko aaj me hi rehne do Khol do darvaja, paar kar lo kivaad Baaton ko aaj jaam ki tarah behne do Mehsoos karo iss lamhe ko, Aaj aur ab me hi jeevan ka saar […]

The Jungle

Darkness. No sun rays on the ground. Blood. Carcass. Teeth. Sounds. Birds. Jackals. Hunger. Trees. Rain. Gorillas. Sun. Seeds. Survival is the only solution. No handouts, no absolutions “Feeling”, is a concept that does not exist. Raw. Uncensored. Relentless. Raised fists. You eat what you hunt, no knives no guns. It is not about the […]

I am You

Will there be keen ears to hear the lessons by the hair turned grey? The burning candle flickering through & beyond the pages of yesterday. Will my dear wait & anticipate another prose about her lovely smile? Or the kids rejoice to hear my stance on the historical political demise? Will the people hear about […]

HR 12

Bring me back to life to those summer times I still live here; in your head These recent times might have made me soft But I ain’t dead. When we ran on those lanes where we belonged And fell together and bled When the coffee tasted sweeter & the movies more intriguing Where waters ran […]